Hard to believe that a few years have already passed since retro accessory maker Retro Fighters first listed, and funded, their modern take on the classic N64 controller. The Brawler 64 has since been released and is a favorite among the retro community. Since that release Retro Fighters has gone on to release Funtastic versions of the Brawler 64 and even a USB version that is just beginning to ship now. Moving on from Nintendo, Retro Fighters has also released a new controller for the Sega Genesis and Sega Saturn dubbed the Brawler Gen with a USB version also available.

The Sega love doesn’t end there though as Retro Fighters launched a Kickstarter last year for a new Dreamcast controller with a funding goal of $13,000. The goal was smashed within hours and the Kickstarter ended up making a total of $130,753 within its 30-day time frame. As a modern controller for the Sega Dreamcast there is no shortage of excited fans ready to see what Retro Fighters take would be like. Now the controller has officially been named and given a release date! The controller has been dubbed the Striker DC and has been given a release date of April 13, 2020, with pre-orders now live on the Retro Fighters website. The Striker DC will retail for $49.99 making it a fairly costly alternative controller for the last Sega home console. The controller does come with a number of tantalizing improvements over Sega’s original offering.

First is the form factor, no matter how much you love the Dreamcast the original controller can get uncomfortable at times. The Striker DC will utilize a more ergonomic form factor allowing players to get a comfortable grip on the controller without fingers being cramped up against the expansion port housing. Speaking of the expansion ports, they will be compatible with all first-party Dreamcast accessories including the VMU, 4X Memory cards, Jump Packs, and even the Dreamcast Microphone so you can get all the Seaman in you could want! The viewing windows for VMU’s has also been cut a little larger than that on an official DC controller to give players a better viewing angle on the screen. The Striker DC has a better designed D-Pad and Analog-stick which should prove invaluable in most games, especially fighters. Turbo functionality is included to help save your fingers from mashing.

Now, what is probably the coolest feature of the Striker DC to me is the inclusion of an extra set of shoulder buttons. These new buttons mirror the functionality of L and R but are digital rather than analog. In shooters or fighting games, the extra pull distance of an analog trigger can result in slower execution of shots or combos. With an alternative digital button, these games can now be played with a button that will trigger quicker to give you a more competitive edge. I seriously can’t wait to play some Street Fighter with this thing! The last major improvement comes from cord length with the 6 ft cord being shown up by the Striker DC’s 10 ft cable. It also comes out of the top of the controller now instead of the bottom like the original DC controller. I haven’t been able to decide if that is an improvement to me personally yet.

If the Brawler 64 and Brawler GEN are anything to go by, the Striker DC should prove to be an awesome controller when it drops this coming April. Again, pre-orders for the first batch of controllers are now open with limited availability. If you are interested in keeping up with more from the Striker DC definitely keep an eye on the Retro Fighters website!